16 Governance and economics: When legislators and researchers meet Administrative Order (AO) No. 372, which took effect on 1 January 1998, directed all government departments and agencies to: (1) reduce total expendi- tures for 1998 by at least 25 percent of authorized regular appropriations for 4 Political economy 101: Philippine-China relations 8 Measuring poverty in Asia 9 PIDS joins Kabisig exhibit **Ms. Virginia Pineda is a former Research As- sociate at the PIDS. to page 16 to page 2